Pocket box or container



v I. PETERSON.

POCKETJBOX 0R CONTAINER. 4 PPLlcATloN` FILED Dsc. 20,1916.

1,344,650. Pana June 2 9, A19(20.

3 nvm/Lto,

f m1, atto/cnaf) UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JONATHAN" PETERSON, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

POCKET BOX OR CONTAINER.

i o all lifi/Lowa t may concern.'

Be it known that I, JONATHAN PETERSON, a citizen of the United States, residing at 746 St. Marks avenue, Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Pocket Boxes or Containers, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in boxes or other commodity containers, especially of the type which are conveniently carried in the pocket and adapted to be opened at will without affecting the closure, the arrangement being such as to prevent sifting or leakage of the contents from the container.

The container of the present invention is designed more particularly as a receptacle and carrier for finely-divided or powdered materials, such for instance as snuff. Material of this type, especially when in powdered form, readily escapes from its container, sifting therefrom through small crevices, such as may result by the application of pressure to the container walls, a loose closure, etc. i

As the snuff user generally carries the snuff with him, the container should be of such configuration as to be conveniently carried in the pocket. The practice, generally, especially with dry snuff, is to employ long boxes of circular contour, the open top being normally closed by a suitable closure.

Containers of the circular type inherently tend to prevent distortion of the walls at the open end due to the curvature vof the container, thus enabling the use of a tight'itting closure, but such structure requires careful manipulation in applying the closure, especially where the type of the container is non-metallic as where fibrous material is employed, a material which may be readily damaged by careless manipulation in entering the body of the closure.

The present invention is designed to meet these and other conditions by changing the shape of the container so as to provide a partially flat instead of circular contour to the container on a cross section of the body. This provides for comparatively large capacity combined with a shape fitted for and conveniently carried in the pocket without producing a bulky appearance to the container or the pocket.

Another feature is the transverse bracing of the walls of the body portion, especially Specification of Letters Patent. -Patented June 29, 1920,

s Application filed December 20, 1916.

Serial No. 137,944.

at the mouth or open end, thereby preventing inward collapsing of such walls in use.

An additional feature is the form of the closure which not only permits of a ready seating and unseating action, but which, in addition, has a configuration which will enable it to be used to readily remove contents from the interior of the container.

To these and other ends, the nature of which will be readily understood as the invention is hereinafter disclosed, said invention consists in the improved construction and combination of parts, hereinafter fully described, illustrated in the vaccompanying drawings and more particularly pointed out in the accompanying claim.

In the drawings in which similar reference characters indicate similar parts in each of the views- Figure 1 is a perspective view of a container according to my invention, the container being shown closed. n

Fig. 2 is a similar view with the closure removed and extending into the container to act as a commodity-removing implement.

Fig. 3 is a side elevation.

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken on line 4-4 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken on line 5--5 of Fig. 4.

In the drawing 10 designates the body portion of the container preferably formed of paper-board or other fibrous material, although other material may be employed for the purpose. i

The body portion is formed in suitable manner, the cross sectional contour however, having opposite sides 11 flattened and connected by curved portions 12, thus eliminating angular corners within the body portion.

The bottom 13 may be of suitable form and material. For instance, it may be formed integral with the body, but it is preferably formed as a separate element and secured to the body in any desired manner, the connection being preferably such as to prevent sifting of the material through the connection.

The bottom may be formed of metal or of non-metallic material lasdesired.

The closure 14 is preferably metallic and formed from sheet material by suitable dies. As shown, the closure is formed with an annular depression produced by an outer ange or wall 14a-which is adapted tofit the outer periphery of the open end oi" the body-and a return wall lllh, preferably of less axial length than wall 1-1, said walls combining to form the depression 14:0. Obviously, walls leia and 14:1 may be termed rising and descending walls respectively. lVhile the opposite side portions of wall 1-1 are preferably parallel so as to lit the outer ilare of the body, this accurate formation is not required with respect to wall 1-1", the latter, as shown, being slightly inclined inwardly to increase the width oi' the depression toward the depression entrance, the bottom of the depression however preferably having a width equal to the thickness of the body portion wall at its open end.

By this arrangement, the open end of the body seats in the depression, wall 14; surrounding such end, while wall 1111 extends inward. lVhen seated, wall 141 eii'ectively prevents inward collapsing of the side walls of the open end of the body portion under pressure, thusl preserving the practically close lit oi' wall 14a and the body portion within the depression, thereby preventing sifting 01"' the material from` the box or container.

The descending wall 11i:b places that portion o'l! the body of the closure within the wallon a depressed plane with respect to the bottom or' the depression. However, I prefer to raise a portion of the material of this closure body portion, as at 14", thus providing a rib formation throughout the major portion of the body of the closure, said rib preferably extending beyond a point midl way of the length of the sides.

By this arrangement theV closure portion internal of wall 14h extends on two planes, depressed portion 111i being on the plane of the rib and preferably located at one end of the closure, portion 11G being raised with respect to such plane.

Tall 14a is cut away, as at 11d, at that end of the closure carrying depressed portion lllf, the decreasing width oi ilange 141:2L preferably extending throughout the curved portion of such end. The particular configuration of portion llf is such as to permit it to function as a spoon in removing contents from the container, as indicated in Fig. 2. lVhile the edge at the return bend is suliciently blunt to prevent cutting action, if the spoon be used for carrying contents to the mouth, it will permit entrance within the container contents especially in View of the decrease in width of flange 14a at this point.

However, the general arrangement of parts 141C and 1-1I with the cut away end 14d will aid in manipulating the closure to place it in its seated position. For instance, instead of attempting to seat the closure by a carehil manipulation, as is required in connection with circular containers, the closure can' be positioned in the following manner.

By bringing one curved end of the open top ot' the body into contact with that end of the closure in which flange 11i is o full width, a position in which the closure is slightly canted, the side portions or' the closure extending over the sides of the body, and then placing the ball of the thumb into the spoon7 laf, or moving the thumb over portion 111C toward and into the spoon, the closure can be moved to produce a tight lit at the initially-presented end, thus enabling the opposite end to be readily placed in position, the narrowed portion of wall 14 enabling the flange to readily pass over the body end without damaging the body wall, the walls of the spoon permitting application of pressure without liability of the thumb passing out of proper position to apply the pressure, the thumb pressing the closure to properly seat the open end of the body in its depression. y

1f desired, that portion of the body open end which extends within the closure may be depressed to an extent which will permit lange lea to lie flush with the surface of the body to present a flat label-receiving surface; the bottom may be similarly arranged. Such depressed eiect may be provided by cutting away or omitting body material or the body may be manipulated to provide such depressed rela-tion as for instance, is disclosed in Patents Nos. 1,211,873 and 1,212,147.

As hereinbefore pointed out, it is preferred to form the` body portion of the container of paper-board or its equivalent. This not only provides for lower cost of manufacture, but in addition, permits of a more c'lljicient sealing eil'ect with the metallic closure and also enables the closure to be manufactured in a simpler and less expensive manner, due to the fact that wall thickness of the body may be increased without producing an excessive weight of material. r1`his enables the endless depression 14 of the closure to be more readily produced, especially since there is no requirement that walls lein and lt'be in exact parallelism.

hile containers having portions of circular form and formed of paper-board have been heretofore employed for thepurpose.I these structures generally have a length and diameter such as would prevent being carried in the vest pocket. On the contrary the container of the present invention is not only shaped so as to provide a ready positioning in the vest pocket and protection against distortion, but the structure may have such length as to provide maximum capacity, the only limitation being to not exceed the length of the pocket which is to receive the container.

Thile the flat-sided arrangement of the body of the present invention offers less resistance to side Wall collapsing than that of the body of the circular container, no disadvantage results because of the ability to prevent such collapsing effect through the forni of the closure. In addition, the particular` configuration enables the for1nation of a closure which is capable of being` readily shaped to increase the stability thereof by the use of strengthening ribs or structures serving the function of such rib, as for instance, the rib which connects portion Ille with wall 14h, together with the Wall which oins portions lll@ with Wall 14h, tobether with the Wall which oins portions la@ and lllf. Obviously, the shape is such as to be readily formed by dies.

These advantages, together with those resulting frein'the ability to apply the closure without requiring careful manipulation, the ability to use the closure as a commodity-removing implement, and the ability to produce the structure at a materially decreased cost of manufacture, render the structure one especially adapted for use in meeting the onerous conditions which are present in 'uses of this lrind, and more particularly Where the cost of manufacture is limited by the selling price of the lilled container.

While I have shown a preferred Wa of carrying the present invention into e ect,

it will be understood that changes and modifications therein may be required or desired to meet the eXigencies of use, and I desire 'to be understood as reserving the right to make any and all such changes as may be found desirable or necessary in so far as the same may fall Within the spirit and scope of the invention as expressed in the appended claim.

What I claim is:

As a new article of manufacture, a closure for commodity-containers of 'the elongated mouth type, said closure having opposed rising and descending Walls adapted to form a depression to receive the Walls of the open top of the container, said rising Wall corresponding in contour with and adapted to closely fit the exterior of the container open top, said closure having a raised portion leading from a portion of said descending wall to produce van nter- Inediate structure located on different planes, said raised portion acting to support the `descending Wall against distortion at the sides, the remaining portion of such structure being adapted to act as a commodityreceiving depression.

In testimon whereof I aix m signature.

ONATHAN PE ERSON. 

